Found and Lost
by ShadowDreamer33
Summary: After adjusting to a somewhat normal life in the 21st century, Steve begins to let himself fall in love again. Will he lose his love again? Romance/Humor/tragedy.
1. First Date

This is an idea that I am toying with but I am not sure weather or not I should continue. I can not really tell you why I don't want to continue without ruining any other chapters that I will be adding :/ Let's just say that I feel like a terrible person for thinking of this. This is a tragedy. Also, this is the first romance that I have done. Ever. In my entire life. As always, feel free to review.

Disclaimer: I do not own the avengers blah blah...I am not making any $ off of this...more blah...legal...blah.

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Steve walked into his apartment, no, he strutted into his apartment. He held his chin high and puffed his chest out. He closed the door behind him and he collapsed onto the couch. He didn't remember dates being so exciting, granted, he has been out of the love game for a while, or forever, whichever.

Earlier that evening, Kathleen met Steve at an indian restaurant a few blocks from Steve's apartment building. Now that Steve knew what fondue was, he thought he would give it a try, he was right about it being romantic...for dinner. Steve got there a little earlier than most would deem reasonable, only an hour before their reservation. He rehearsed what he was going to say to Kathleen when he saw her walk up, _Oh, hey, great timing, I just got here. You look beautiful. _Too creepy. It sounds like a bad cop movie "I've been expecting you". _Good evening miss Moore. _Too medieval... and Dracula. _Hello, lovely weather we are having tonight, isn't it? _Who am I, the weather man? No, I am Captain America. _Hi, I wear tights on a regular basis, want to 'fondue'? _Why don't I just shoot myself in the foot before it ends up in my mouth!

Kathleen appeared around the corner, her petite figure was framed by the street lights. She had dolled herself up, her hair dark brown hair was curled out of her face and she was even wearing her grandmother's pearls. Suddenly, all coherent thoughts that had been in Steve's head disappeared. He absent mindedly tugged at the edges of his jacket, straightening out any piece of clothing that could have possibly acquired a wrinkle since he pressed his clothes that afternoon. He didn't realize that she was already beside him and he had yet to make an introduction. Who was he again? Capsicle, Captain, STEVE! His name was Steve, right, what was going on again?

Steve managed to choke out a "Wow".

"I hope I am not overdressed!"

"No!" he stammered, "You look perfect!"

Kathy blushed. She was not used to flattery since she worked in the Navy.

"Wow, I must look like an idiot." Steve ran his hand through his hair.

Kathy laughed at the new mess of tangles that materialized on the Captain's head. She reached out and smoothed down his blonde hair.

"Thanks"

"You're welcome." A man on his phone shuffled by, bumping into Steve and pressing him against Kathleen. "Uh... we should go inside." Steve wanted to hurry inside to disguise the flush of color rushing to his face.

Kathleen pressed closer to Steve's side as they made their way inside, she could feel him squirm under his jacket, but he didn't pull away.

The dim lights of the restaurant made it easier for Steve to steal glances at the beautiful woman in front of him. As she read over the menu, he watched her lips silently sound out words, when she caught him staring. Steve coughed, nearly knocking over his water glass.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah! Perfect, fine, great, never better..." Steve managed, trailing off.

The rest of the evening was filled with small talk, Steve told a few stories of what it was like growing up in 1940's NYC, Kathy added stories of growing up in what was now one of the largest cities in America.

"I have not always lived in New York. I am originally from Iowa. I was an only child that belonged to two workaholics. We moved with the jobs that my parents got and eventually ended up in NYC when I was six."

Steve smiled at his plate, "I have never been out of New York...until recently."_ Well not so recently he supposed, recently in 1942._ He coughed to prevent giving any information away that he would later regret: He was a soldier first after all.

A few drinks and a couple of laughs later, Steve decided that it was time to return Kathy to her home before things got places they wouldn't go if she wasn't drunk off her ass.

Steve half carried her to her apartment and he walked her inside, he got her a glass of water and an aspirin and left them on her night stand before tucking her into bed and retreating to his own apartment.

Steve started as he came out of another nightmare: This one had been about Peggy. Nearly every night since he had first met Kathy, Steve had dreamed of the last conversation he had had with Peggy. _The plane was diving into the water, "A week from today, 8 o'clock sharp. Don't you dare be late." The plane crashed into the ice. Everything went black. He was in a hospital. _The same dream over and over, tormenting his every thought, until now. Kathy had been a welcome change in this new world; she provided something that he had not experienced in a very long time: Joy

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Please review if you want the story to continue, otherwise I am pulling the plug.


	2. Stars

Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers or Captain America, I am not profiting off of this. Ok, we good?

Here is Chapter 2, It is not very long, neither was chapter 1. I can either update within a reasonable ammount of time, or I can give you a big blurb.

Enjoy the awkward fluffiness! I am proud of this chapter, it is a bit cheesy, but it is a cute cheesy.

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Steve and Kathleen began to see each other almost daily, they clicked. One Saturday they went out to a shooting range, Steve thought it would be an excellent opportunity to show off: Boy was he wrong. They arrived, Steve with his own .45 caliber handgun, Kathy used one that was provided by the shooting range, a .36. Steve spun his gun around his index finger the way you see in the old western, in the middle of his second rotation, the middle aged woman who ran the place came rushing over scolding Steve about gun safety and ignorance. He was blushing profusely while Kathy stifled a bout of giggles with her hand.

After the manager left, Steve was left to load his weapon, while Kathy feigned a struggle with her trigger. Steve came around and was about to take the weapon from her to fix it, she was just a woman after all, but Kathleen knew exactly what she was doing. She spun around and he ended up with his arms around her from behind, clutching the weapon out in front, his rough hands over hers. They pulled the trigger.

"I so kicked your ass back there!" Kathy gloated

"Did not, I let you win" Steve countered, trying to pick up his pride after being outshot by a half pint.

"Sore loser!"

Steve grinned at her, "Where shall we go next?"

"Why do we always go somewhere? Can we go nowhere?"

"Nowhere?"

Now it was Kathy's turn to grin and be mysterious. She latched onto his hand and dragged him at an alarming pace through the city. They caught a taxi, Kathy whispered directions to the driver to keep Steve in the dark.

They left the city limits and the driver stopped beside what appeared to be an old shed. She paid the driver and turned back to Steve. "Do you know what we are doing?"

"...No...is this some kind of girlfriend test?"

The laughter that ensued did not sound like it could have come from a woman who barely weighed 100 pounds soaking wet.

"No this isn't a test!" Then she turned completely straight faced, "But that's good, always be alert."

Steve looked genuinely alarmed, this caused a whole new bout of laughter.

Finally Kathy led him inside. If it was possible for a building to be larger on the inside, this one was. What had appeared only to be a shack turned out to be a small observatory. Steve had lived in the city his whole life, and after that he had been behind enemy lines without much time for stargazing. This would be the first glimpse that he would get of the rest of the universe.

Kathy grasped his arm and led him over to a telescope roughly the width of the captain himself, she turned a few knobs and adjusted a bolt here and there, then she just backed away and watched. Steve timidly leaned into the bulky device, he positioned his closed eye over the eyepiece,

"It won't work unless you open your eyes pea brain" Kathy Joked.

"Right..."

Steve opened his eyes. He stared at all of the different stars for hours. Kathy pointed out constelations and the names of some notable stars and planets. She watched this big tough guy morph into a small child that has discovered the sun didn't revolve around the Earth.

It was well into the next morning by the time they caught a ride back into town, Kathy slept on Steve's lap in the back of the cab on the way home, he ran his fingers through her tangle of hair.

Fury called Steve back to Avengers Tower, they were on the brink of another worldwide catastrophe.

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As always, please review! And while you're at it, check out my other stories about the Avengers!


	3. We are at War?

Sorry for the long update! And all of the dialogue. And the random things that got thrown in. It will all make sense later I promise!

As always, please review!

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Captain America suited up and headed over to the Tower, Tony had failed to replace the rest of the lettering on the building so there was still just an 'A' in place of 'Stark'. He liked it. The Avengers.

Since The Captain neither lived at Headquarters, nor could he fly, he was the last team member to arrive in the conference room. Fury was rubbing his forehead when Cap walked in.

"Finally! We were about to go check the polar ice caps" Tony jibed.

Cap glared at him so intensely that Tony's smile actually faltered.

"...As I was saying, we are in the middle of a crisis" Fury continued.

A few panicked looks crossed over the team's faces.

"Don't worry, we aren't facing an alien invasion. Those are apparently only a twice in a lifetime occurrence. We are facing something a little closer to home: Terrorists."

With that last word there was a collective exhale of relief followed by a whole new bout of nervousness.

"Why are we needed for a few terrorists? Won't the army or the guard be called in on something like this?"

"These aren't our usual terrorists."

"Are they so unusual that they need the Hulk to contain them?"

Fury straightened out his spine and stared at his hands.

Cap broke the silence, "What exactly are we dealing with, Director?"

Fury hesitated.

"Apparently not all of Hydras weapons were confiscated after WWII."

And the silence is back with a vengeance.

The heros glanced around the room, looking at each other to be reassured that they had heard correctly. The mirrored faces of worry confirmed their fears.

"Do we still possess any of their tech?" Tony inquired.

"The tech we recovered is too outdated. These men have had more than seven decades to convert their water guns into atomic bombs...worse; atomic bombs will look like firecrackers next to them. They are fighting with pure focused energy."

A low whistle escaped from Bruce's lips.

"What do you want us to do?"

"These people are more powerful than the Chitauri, but they will not be reckless. They will be calculated. That can be of an advantage, if their moves are calculated, they will most likely follow a strict pattern and be predictable. The alien attack we faced was hard to get a handle on because they did not have communication or skill."

Fury watched the team's reactions carefully. He concluded the meeting, "Suit up."

* * *

Steve left the building, rubbing his forehead with his palm. Despite being well rested, his face took on a tired look, the dark circles returned under his eyes, the crease between his eyebrows deepened. He looked as if he had aged twenty years in the span of twenty minutes. He walked the thirty-two city blocks back towards his apartment, he passed his building and went straight to the old gym.

He returned to his apartment. Blood trickled down his hands from boxing without tape or gloves. The blood had hardly dried when the wounds began to heal on their own; a perk of being a super soldier. A hindrance when longing for a release.

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The next day, Steve phoned Kathy. "...please just go to your mother's for a few weeks"

"No! I am not just picking up and leaving without a proper explanation!"

"I know it sounds ridiculous, but just listen to me!"

"I am listening, Steve! Do you realize how ridiculous this all sounds? No rational human would just pack up and leave because a guy she met little over a month ago told her to! I don't care if you are Captain America!"

"Fine, if an explanation is what you want...come by my apartment. I can't talk to you over the phone, it is too dangerous."

"I'll be there in fifteen."

The line went dead.

* * *

Kathy approached the rundown brick building. She walked up the flight of stairs leading to Steve's apartment and knocked on the door; three small taps. The door opened quickly, nearly frightening her. The small apartment clearly belonged to a single man. It was tidy enough, strictly from lack of use though. A single glass mug sat on a drying rack next to the sink. The kitchen cabinets lacked doors, exposing his single plate, one bowl, and 3 boxes of cereal. Cap'n Crunch. He did however own a complete set of silverware. There were little personal touches to the room. Everything clashed with everything; He had a green couch, blue carpets, walls that were once white but had yellowed over the years. A single picture hung on the wall in front of the couch where most people would possess a television. The picture was an old photo of a military team. There was a guy in the front with his arm around Steve, but his face was too faded to make out...

"You might want to sit down for this."

She spun around. The sudden voice startled her.

"Right..." Kathleen moved over to the couch. She wrapped her hands around her knees and stared expectantly at him.

Steve just kinda paced the room, chewing on his lips. Looking like he was going to say something, then thinking better of it he would cut himself off.

She began to get annoyed. "Spit it out!"

Now it was his turn to be startled. He had almost completely forgotten her presence. Almost.

"...I can't tell you what I am about to tell you."

"You're not going to tell me you are really a serial killer or something, right?" She began to shift in her seat, placing her feet firmly on the floor.

Panic crossed Steve's face, "NO! Nothing like that! I am a soldier so I guess you are right in a sense but that's not the thing I was saying!"

She sunk back down in her seat. "Ok, then what is it?"

"You have to leave."

"You idiot. You already told me that over the phone!"

"I know, but I really can't tell you!"

"Well I am not leaving then."

"Why are you being so stubborn!?"

"Why are you being so CRYPTIC!? I am not one of your pawns Captain!" She spit out the last word. It hit him like acid.

He changed his approach. "I'm sorry. Please sit back down. Kathy...we are at war."

"War?"

"This isn't the kind of war that we can fight off with numbers and guns. This is a war we don't know if we can win. You need to leave, your parents now live back in Iowa, right? That isn't exactly a prime terrorist target. It will be safer for you there."

They sat together in silence for a while. Kathy replied.

"I'm not going."

Steve started to protest but she put a hand up and stopped him.

"If it is as bad as you say it is, It won't matter where I am. It will only prolong the inevitable."

He sighed, resisting the urge to argue. "Ok" was all he could manage.

They sat there holding each other for a while.

"I have to go" Steve said reluctantly. She nodded and stood to leave. Steve couldn't bring himself to kiss her goodbye. It was too final. He would see her again.

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Thanks for sticking with it! Or if you are new, thanks for taking a look! :D I will have an update in a few days, regardless of how many readers are still holding on :P It does in fact get better! Keeping in mind that this story does not have a happy ending. Again, it is a tragedy.

**Please review!**


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